County of Orange RACES

The County of Orange maintains a RACES Emergency Communications Response Vehicle that is available for response 24/7. This vehicle provides communications resources to the scene of an emergency, disaster, or special event.

Three workstations provide the ability to coordinate communications using both amateur radio and public-safety radio systems.

The first two operating positions consist of Kenwood TM-742A amateur VHF/UHF transceivers, Vertex Standard VX-4000 public-safety radios, and Motorola 800 MHz public-safety radios.

The third operating position (for HF, packet, APRS, and visual communications) consists of a Yaesu FT-100D amateur HF/VHF/UHF transceiver, a Kenwood TM-D700A amateur 144/440 MHz dual-band transceiver, a Kenwood VC-H1 visual communicator, and three video monitors. It can send and receive amateur and slow-scan television.

The vehicle has two cellular phones, a telephone switch, computer network with printer, and an on-board generator for emergency power.

The dimensions of this vehicle are:
            Length: 21 feet, 10 inches
            Width: 7 feet, 4 inches
            Height: Approximately 8 feet, 8 inches (10 feet, 6 inches including antennas)

This vehicle does not have four-wheel drive and is not intended for off-road use.

In keeping with the role and mission of the County of Orange RACES program, this vehicle will certainly benefit the Cities and County of Orange by having such a tremendous resource at their disposal.

© Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. No HTML nor original artwork may be reproduced or used without written express permission .
Webmaster: Ken Bourne, W6HK, Chief Radio Officer, County of Orange (California) RACES
Last Update: September 28, 2007